Government Efforts to Boost Tourism: Preparing Destinations and Promotions

Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to promoting sustainable growth in Indonesia’s tourism sector, despite facing both external and internal challenges. In the monthly tourism report delivered in Jakarta on Thursday, she emphasised that the government is not only pursuing an increase in tourist arrivals but also focusing on quality and sustainability. According to her, the Ministry of Tourism continues to strengthen policies and programmes to ensure that tourism delivers broader economic benefits to the community. The February 2026 report indicates positive trends. Foreign tourist visits (wisman) reached 1.16 million, up 13.37% compared to the same period last year. Cumulatively, January-February 2026 recorded 2.35 million visits, growing 7.77% from 2025. Malaysia was the largest contributor of foreign tourists, followed by China, Singapore, Australia, and Timor Leste. Domestic tourist movements (wisnus) in February 2026 reached 91.14 million trips, up slightly by 0.70% from the previous year. Meanwhile, total trips for January-February 2026 amounted to 193.17 million, down 0.17% compared to the same period last year. This increase demonstrates the effectiveness of domestic tourism promotion and the importance of long holiday periods in stimulating the domestic market. Meanwhile, national tourists travelling abroad in February 2026 reached 701,070 trips, down 7.64% from the previous year. Overall, January-February 2026 recorded 1.71 million trips, down 2.38% from the same period in 2025. Interestingly, foreign tourist visits to Indonesia were higher than national tourists travelling abroad, both for February alone and the cumulative first two months of 2026. The difference was 0.46 million in February and 0.64 million for January-February. This trend shows that Indonesian tourism is increasingly attractive to the global market, while also serving as a positive signal for economic recovery.